Customer Reviews

Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue

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Jasper Ridley's biography of Elizabeth is well-written and coherent, broken into chapters that examine pivotal events during the reign in foreign and domestic policy. Ridley's work differs from most Elizabethan biographies in its focus on political and military aspects rather than personal studies of the queen. While at times the text drags, for the most part it is crisp and solid reading, and paints a fascinating picture. What makes the book stand out, however, is the quality of its documentation and use of primary sources, and its tremendous value as a research tool. Mr. Ridley has made assiduous use of archived state papers and contemporary commentaries that depict events as they were actually experienced and grasped by the people in the 16th and early 17th centuries. A student partaking in research on this period or studying the European Renaissance in general would benefit tremendously from a consultation of the bibliography, since the author essentially gives an index of the calendars of state publications that detail various decisions and military planning of the late 1500s. Furthermore, Mr. Ridley is careful to delve deeply into foreign sources as well; he makes extensive use of the archives in Simancas, Spain, as well as archival resources in Italy, to furnish shades of detail often overlooked. The overall result is that Mr. Ridley's biography has an unparalleled "real-time" feel to it. And, the author covers territory that too often is neglected in Elizabethan biographies, especially in regard to military affairs that are difficult to research elsewhere. He examines the English defeat and expulsion from Le Havre in France that resulted in the permanent loss of Calais in 1563; the long Anglo-Spanish war of the 1590s that crippled the finances of both countries, and (with Spanish victories at sea) frustrated English attempts at colonization in the Western Hemisphere while preserving Spain's foothold; and also at the bitter Anglo-Irish guerrilla war of the century's last decade, which devastated the Irish countryside and drained England's resources to the limit. For a detailed biography, Jasper Ridley's biography (along with that of Anne Somerset) is top-notch, and as a research tool it is of inestimable help.

This is postitively the best book that I have ever read on the wonderfully shrewd and amazingly intelligent Elizabeth I. I have read literally hundreds of biographies on the legendary Queen but none have echoed my own thoughts and opinions on the matter as well as this one. After spending two years researching this area of history and all of its characters, I actually learned hundreds of new facts from Ridley's book. The facet of this work that I enjoyed the most was Ridley's examinations of lesser characters. People know that Elizabeth allied herself with the Dutch Protestants in their religious wars against Spain but Ridley actually researches and presents to the reader the specifics; the personalities of the people involved, the events that shaped them and the Queen's own personal opinions. Anyone who is passionately addicted to this fascinating period should definitely read this book.

Jasper Ridley, in this book about the reign of Elizabeth I has some very strong opinions on his subject matter, but seems to veer more towards a negative perception of England's Virgin leading one to question whether he is biased against her.
There is something of a contradiction in his portrayal of Queen Elizabeth as capricious and vacillating on the one hand, while depicting her a conniving and somewhat Machiavellian on the other.

This is a comprehensive volume, more detailed about the political events and Elizabeth's policies than The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius Of The Golden Age though it has considerably on her personal life.
The author skims too quickly through Elizabeth's childhood and youth, before she became Queen, which is a drawback because it was these events that shaped Elizabeth's character.
Interesting is the juxtaposition her religious tolerance with her total belief in the divine right of monarchs and her belief that to rebel against the ruling sovereign was an abomination. Hence although she was Protestant she had little sympathy for the Dutch Protestant rebels against the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands, and even less so for the French Protestant Huguenots against the persecution of their Catholic rulers.
Although she made some efforts to mediate in these disputes and gave support to the Dutch rebels when it became clear that Spain had become an outright enemy of England, in the period leading to the threat to England by the Spanish Armada.

She seems to have hated the Puritans and Presbyterians more than she did the Catholics, although the author does not credit her enough for the religious tolerance she brought to England after the repression by her older half-sister, Mary I, in |Bloody Mary's ruthless crusade to stamp out Protestantism in any form from England.

The author well illustrates Elizabeth's anguished reluctance to have Mary Queen of Scots executed, which Elizabeth was virtually coerced to do by her council, and for which Elizabeth always suffered great sorrow and regret.

But I cannot agree with the author's thesis that Elizabeth was a not so much a great Queen but merely presided over a great era in England's history.
Ridley is wrong.
Elizabeth brought peace and stability to nation that had suffered centuries of civil strife, brought a strong measure of religious tolerance for the age in which she ruled.
She built up a strong economy and a flowering of arts and culture. music and literature (Morley, Byrd, Dowland, Marlowe, Jonson and Shakespeare).

And nobody can take away from the courage she gave England during the threat to her sovereignty by Spain's King Phillip and the Spanish Armada, as well as her brilliant choice of admirals such as Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh.
Who can forget her rousing speech to the people of England defending her country's sovereignty:
"I have...they shall be duly paid to you."Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general2 shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people"

These are the words of a great leader defending her nation against invasion. It is aforeshadow of Churchill's speech we he told Britain that "We will defend our island whatever the cost may be." Churchill: A Life

Ridley provides an excellent overview of Elizabeth's reign, but he spends precious little time with the Queen and her court. I recommend reading this book in tandem with Alison Weir's "The Life of Elizabeth I." Together they provide a fuller picture of the Queen and her times than either book does individually.

Ridley's SHREWDNESS OF VIRTUE is a thoroughly researched, factually worthwhile read. It is also a fascinating study of intent gone wrong. One reads the book with an increasing sense that the author wants very much to discredit his subject. Yes, he grudgingly gives Elizabeth credit for the triumphs he is sure belong to her. But he ignores the less definable policies of state which made for the greatness of the period. He will, for example, praise the brilliant William Cecil and the canny Walsingham for their skill in defying the Queen, yet he fails to acknowledge the extraordinary circumstance of a monarch of the time employing such men. Or he can grit his teeth and point to Elizabeth's standing in the European community, and yet feel confident in stating that the only real difference between her and Mary of Scotland lay in the size and power of their realms. No loving biographer of Mary would go quite so far! Most interesting is his conclusion, a brief and somewhat puzzled reflection on the near mythic reputation enjoyed by Elizabeth over the centuries. Jasper Ridley is obviously a scholar of distinction. It is as frustrating for us as it must have been for him that his subject's feet were not as completely made of clay as he would have preferred.

What a refreshingly well-written, concise and historically well-researched book! Ridley is a master of the historic biography, and every book I have read so far (having started off with his account of Henry VIII) is a riveting read and impossible to put away.

May Royal Tunbridge Wells continue to serve as an inspiration to this gifted writer and connaisseur of the depth of the English language.

Having just finished Anne Somersets more definitive bio on Elizabeth I have to agree with previous reviewers that the author seems to have it in for his subject. Does he even like her?. He portrays her more as vindictive, vascillating, procrastinating,vain and downright bloodthirsty. Most notably in her relations with the english puritans, the protestant rebels in the Netherlands and especially her close relatives. The latter being her treatment of Katherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Jane for whom there was no love lost. He does not give her any credit for being a woman in a mans world and having the guts and wisdom to choose some very bright men as ministers and councillors and not yes-men at that. Walshingham and William Cecil openly disagreed with her on many issues but at no time did she contemplate dismissing them. He also appears to be saying that Elizabeth's foreign policy was based on the divine right of princes to rule their own kingdoms, and that rebels against their rightful lords be they protestant or catholic deserve to be severely punished hence her sympathetic correspondence with Philip of Spain. Ridley also has a penchant for drawing out in unnecessary detail execution and torture scenes. When the assassin of William of Orange is submitted to all kinds of horrific torture before his eventual execution, smiling the whole time the reader finds himself squirming uncomfortably. Despite the authors elegant prose I prefer the Sommerset or even Antonia Fraser biographies. They may not deify the woman but at least they dont vilify her.